Indo-Singapore Apprentice Championship gives zip to closing Mumbai Season - By Vivek Jain
Posted on - 12 Apr 2013
Indo-Singapore Apprentice Championship gives zip to closing Mumbai Season
By Vivek Jain
Inspite of a packed season of huge events, the RWITC has kept the sport’s flag flying high even in April, when the weather is hot and the general interest ebbing away. At the outset, I must acknowledge the tremendous effort of Mr Adil Gandhy, a member of the Club to make this happen- from ideation to implementation! We need more such well meaning contributors to assist our efforts in promoting the sport of racing and our Club. Take a bow, Adil!
And yet to follow is the Vintage Car Exhibition next week, with a children’s focus theme on the closing day, topped off by the Tata Racing Excellence Awards! Whoever said April was a dull month for the RWITC?
The first ever clash of apprentices of a foreign country with our own is a first time initiative by any Turf Authority and should revv up interest as the season closes in a fortnight. Five leading Singapore apprentices match their skills with our own boys- which has an all India representation, and not just from the RWITC. So, it is truly India v Singapore!
Two races on Saturday and two on Sunday would keep the excitement up the entire weekend! Jockeys will be awarded points upto sixth place, and the maximum points earner wins the Silver Whip and a Trophy goes to the Champion Country as well!
To bring a touch of dash to the day we will present gold, silver and bronze medals to the first three placed in each of the four designated races, to replicate the big sporting championships. So we have a mini-Olympics style presentation in the paddock, with the National Anthems for good measure! Yet another first at a racing event and just done to bring in an element of fun!
The jockeys have drawn their mounts by lots, so in addition to their skill, the luck factor will play an equally prominent part in the final winners. We are confident that Singapore Turf Club will replicate this first time effort, by a similar series in Singapore. Maybe with time this could well become an annual event between the two countries virtually a Test Match style apprentice series!
The RWITC is delighted to play host to the Consul General of Singapore who will be present to present the various momentos and trophies, accompanied by a delegation.
The icing on the cake is the chance to drive home a Tata Nano, in a simple contest of predicting the winning country! If you put in your nomination on Saturday, it costs just a bet of Rs 500 to get a form, but to enable Sunday patrons to get a shot, and as they have the benefit of knowing the Saturday results, a form can be had on a bet of Rs 1,000! A small variation to our weekly contests.
